The present invention relates to systems and methods for providing a local web-server that synchronizes the update of information in a storage device.
Emulation of a web-server in a storage device is well-known in the art of computer engineering. Such emulation is typically done by saving one or more web pages (or a part of them) in a local storage device, and then accessing the web content using a local web-server, running on the same storage device. This provides independent operation and total portability.
While the prior-art emulators provide a true “web experience”, they differ from true network-based web-servers in one very important aspect: They cannot be automatically updated “in the background” (i.e. without host-system initiation). Furthermore, the data stored in a local web-server may be of a nature that requires frequent updating in order to be relevant (e.g. weather reports, traffic conditions, stock quotes, etc.). A lack of frequent updating can render the data misleading or useless.
Prior-art examples of SIM (i.e. subscriber identity module) cards that act as “web-servers” for a host device are available from Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (Taepyong-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea) and Gemalto N. V. (formerly Axalto Holding N. V., Joop Geesinkweg, Amsterdam, The Netherlands). While these SIM cards feature data storage capacity with a “server-like” capability, they cannot perform the task of using the host device as a medium to reach an internet (or other external data sources), obtain new information, and incorporate the information into a data response for an application request. (The term “internet” is used herein to refer to a collection of interconnected computer networks. The best known internet is the worldwide Internet.) Such prior-art devices are not truly web-servers in the sense that such devices cannot directly access an internet. In addition, these SIM cards do not offer functionality to access internet resources through a mobile phone.
It would be desirable to have a local web-server that is capable of serving the user off-line and on-line, and which could also use any on-line opportunity to autonomously synchronize the web-server data with other available data sources. The term “autonomous” in this context means that the host device serves only as a gateway, providing communication between the local web-server and the data sources. However, in other situations the host device can run client applications (e.g. a web browser) to provide an MMI (i.e. man-machine interface) to the data and applications stored in the storage device or retrieved from an internet.